


The First Date Night

by a_q



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Developing Relationship, Extremis, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 02:08:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7247848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_q/pseuds/a_q
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Pepper had Extremis in the first Iron Man -movie?<br/>What if Bruce Banner was the one to help her control it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Date Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prosodiical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosodiical/gifts).



_I could kill him, and no one could stop me._   
  
The thought was so sudden and clear, that Pepper froze, staring at Stane pour himself a drink. He said something about Tony always having the good stuff and Pepper forced herself to smile, because that was what Stane expected to see.   
  
Stane walked closer, his cloying aftershave filling the space. ”I was so happy when he came home.  It was like we got him back from the dead. Now I realize that Tony never came home, did he? He left part of himself in that cave.” He sighed like the situation worried him, and all Pepper could think was Tony's eyes as he stared at the camera, gauze wrapped around his chest and dotted with blood.  
  
Stane had ordered Tony killed, but Tony had survived. He had come back against the odds, and Pepper realized that Stane wasn't going to stop. Simply smoking Tony out of the company wouldn't be enough to satisfy him. He would try to get rid of him again.  
  
Pepper took a deep breath, forcing herself to focus on the moment, slamming her anger inside a mental box and closing the lid. It wouldn't help for long, and Bruce had warned her from ignoring her emotions for too long. Anger will always prevail he had said, and now Pepper started to understand what he might had meant with that.  
  
”You are a very rare woman,” Stane said. ”Tony doesn't know how lucky he is.”

”Thank you,” she said, the smile frozen on her face like a mask and she was afraid to drop it. ”I'd better get back there.”   
  
She used the paper as a cover as she grabbed the lock chip from the computer. Small brown spots appeared under her fingertips, the paper crinkling with a faint burning smell. She nudged the lock chip inside her sleeve, hoping the fabric would protect it from her skin. She felt hot, and she needed to get out of here while she was still on top of this.  
  
She took deep breaths all the way down to the first floor. She was in control, and she decided what happened, not Extremis. Bruce had been strict on the mental exercises, and right now she was grateful for those. She was sure the Stark Industries insurance policy didn't cover uncontrollable self-combustion.   
  
Pepper felt calmer when she stepped in the foyer, until she saw Agent Coulson waiting for her. He stood up when she approached, his expression polite.   
  
“Ms. Potts, we had an appointment,” he said, following her when she wouldn't stop to greet him. “Did you forget our appointment?”   
  
“I'm sorry Agent Coulson, and I understand that this is inconvenient for you, but I have to reschedule the meeting,” Pepper said, reaching for the glass door and pushing it open. The dry, hot wind felt cool against her skin, and she was afraid to glance down to see if her skin glowed. Pepper hoped that in the direct sunlight Agent Coulson wouldn't notice anything odd about her.   
  
“I have to insist that we hold on to our meeting,” Agent Coulson said. “It's very important.”

“I understand, but I can't discuss the company's internal matters without conferring with Mr. Stark first,” Pepper said. She reached her car and fumbled her purse for the keys. She felt the pressure inside her like a giant balloon and she centered her mind all over again, focusing on the feeling of the wind, the sun, the steady inhale and exhale, letting the moment stretch like an elastic piece of string.  
  
“Are you all right, Ms. Potts?”  
  
She turned to look at Agent Coulson. He was frowning slightly, his posture tense.    
  
“Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. I just...need to go check on Tony.”   
  
Agent Coulson looked like he was about to argue with her, so Pepper opened the door and slid behind the wheel.   
  
“Ms. Potts, it's not only Stark we want to brief,” Agent Coulson said quietly. “I need to talk to you about that three week period when you went missing.”  
  
“I wasn't missing. I needed a holiday,” Pepper said without hesitation, the familiar lie easy to sell. She didn't know Agent Coulson, and at the moment she wasn't prepared to trust strangers. Pepper smiled with the same blank politeness that Agent Coulson had shown her. “Now if you would excuse me, I'm in a hurry.”

“Ms. Potts, please, if I can be any assistance to you, don't hesitate to call. You have my card.”   
  
“I'll keep it in mind,” Pepper said.   
  
She drove to the highway, and dialed Bruce's number without taking her eyes away from the road. “I nearly lost my control,” she said when he answered. There was no need for plesantries, Bruce would know why she called.   
  
_“How are you feeling now?”_  
  
“Shaky,” she admitted.   
  
_“Do you want me to come meet you?”_  
  
“If you can,” Pepper said. “I don't want to get you in trouble, but I have a bad feeling about Tony. I found something dangerous on Stane's computer, and I don't know what to do with it. Can you meet me in the house?”  
  
 _“Yes. I'm on my way.”_

_x - x - x_

 

Pepper drove to the service entrance, not to the front. She swiped her key card at the door and went inside, listening the quiet. The house was dark, and everything seemed normal. She considered asking Jarvis to secure the house, but if Stane had beat her here, it would only warn him that someone else was here. And if he hadn't, Jarvis wouldn't change the security parameters to keep Stane out without Tony's say so.   
  
She walked through the kitchen, heading toward the living room. With any luck, Tony would be downstairs in the workshop, and if worse came to worse, he could use the suit to defend himself.   
  
But of course Tony hadn't been that sensible.   
  
They were in the living room. Stane stood over Tony, the glow of the arc reactor between them. Tony was in obvious pain, his eyes turned to Stane like he couldn't look away from him. Pepper had seen Tony in every stage of inebriation, but she had never seen him look as hurt and helpless as that moment.   
  
Pepper stopped holding back. It felt liberating to surrender to the ever-present fire inside her.   
  
She walked closer, not even bothering to hide the clip of her high heel shoes against the stone floor. Stane was too arrogant to watch his back, too caught up torturing Tony.

When Pepper had been a child, she had seen her grandmother twist a bird's neck. The bird had been trapped in the netting protecting the raspberry bushes and it had been hurt badly. Grandmother had said it was a kindness to end its life quick. Then Pepper had been upset about it for days, but now the motion of her grandmother's hands came up from her memory, a helpful guideline to follow.   
  
Tony made a small, scared sound when he spotted her. Pepper didn't have time to assure him, because Stane was already turning around, his eyes widening in surprise when he realized that she was there. He started to say something, but Pepper grabbed his neck, his skin burning under her touch. Stane didn't manage even a scream. Pepper tightened her hold and _twisted_.   
  
The cracking sound was loud in the silent room. Stane's body dropped down on the floor, the arc reactor clattering away from his limp hand. It rolled under the coffee table and Pepper went after it, crouching down to reach the thing, her hand resting against the varnished wooden top.   
  
Tony made an alarmed sound and she looked up. “Tony, the reactor is right there, I'll...”

The table top burst to flames, the delicate orchids engulfed in the orange glow, the designer glassware blackening in an instant. Her hand burned so hot that the skin was almost blue. Pepper cursed and snatched her hand away. She got up and kicked the burning table over, away from the arc reactor. The table broke apart, the pieces smoldering around the stone floor. Safe enough.   
  
“I'm sorry, hang in there, the help is on the way,” Pepper said, backing away slowly from Tony. He stared at her, worried and panicked, and Pepper grimaced, turning not to look at him. She had hoped to keep this from Tony, and here she was, destroying everything.   
  
“Jarvis, how far is Doctor Banner?”   
  
“He's coming up the driveway, Ms. Potts. May I point out your body temperature is alarmingly high, and there seems to be a small fire in the living room?”  
  
“Yes, I know. Let Banner in.” The air started to shimmer around her, the shadows dancing on the wall as the heat creeped further up, burning in her chest and mouth.   
  
“Yes, Ms. Potts. Shall I call for the emergency services?”  
  
“Not just yet.” It came out as a strange growl, but Jarvis didn't comment further.  
  
It felt like an eternity before Bruce jogged up the driveway, his bag slung over his shoulder and his hair windswept, looking so normal and calm that Pepper would've cried from relief if her eyes weren't as hot as embers.   
  
Bruce pushed the door open with his shoulder, taking one sweeping look around to assess the situation before looking at her. “What do you need?”

“Tony, the arc reactor, and I can't...” She took a shuddering breath. “He's going into a cardiac arrest. I killed Stane.”  
  
Bruce nodded, already moving toward Tony. “And what is the arc reactor?”  
  
“The glowing thing near the coffee table,” Pepper said, staying near the front door. She knew perfectly well what could happen when Extremis overheated, and she could make a run over the edge into the ocean if worse came to worse.   
  
Bruce picked up the reactor and hurried over to Tony, kneeling next to him on the couch. “Hello, I'm Bruce Banner. Try to breathe normally. You too, Pepper.” He turned the reactor around, examining it, and then taking a look at the chest cavity. Tony rolled his eyes, or tried to, since it looked like a confused wink than anything else.   
  
“Looks simple enough. Here we go,” Bruce said, and guided the arc reactor in place, attaching the end to the base plate, letting it slot in place and nudging the edge until it slotted in the rim.   
  
Tony shuddered, a muffled moan escaping from him.   
  
“I'm sorry about the cold hands,” Bruce said and reached to press his fingers against Tony's neck, staring at his wristwatch.   
  
Tony stared at him without blinking, though his breathing eased.

“Stane did something else to him, because the paralysis isn't from the arc reactor,” Pepper said, the blue edge flaring back to her fingers when she said Stane's name.  
  
“Do you know how he induced the paralysis? Was it through injection or something he might've consumed?”  
  
“I don't know! He had already done it by the time I got here, and I didn't stop to ask questions,” Pepper said, shaking her hands to get rid of the flaring heat. It felt stupid, but sometimes it helped to move. “Jarvis? What did you see?”  
  
“I believe Mr. Stane used a discarded weapon experiment, a non-evasive method of creating a temporal paralysis through sound waves,” came the calm reply.   
  
Bruce tilted his head in a silent question.   
  
“Jarvis runs the house. It's an AI.”  
  
“That's interesting,” Bruce said. “Well, his heart rate is steadying, his color is returning, and he can breathe. Maybe we should wait a moment to see if the effects will wear off on their own. I suspect Tony doesn't care much for hospitals, and we have this other problem left to solve.”  
  
“If I may, Ms. Potts, I have overridden the sprinkler system, but the smoke levels are still rising.”

The damn table still burned, and Pepper felt a laughter escaping from her mouth. She leaned her back against the cool glass and slid to the ground, her legs shaking.   
  
“Well, we can start from that problem. Is there a fire extinguisher somewhere?” Bruce asked briskly, getting up and looking around the room.   
  
“In the hallway closet, sir,” Jarvis said.    
  
Pepper knew she had to get up and go help Bruce find the fire extinguisher, check that Tony was fine, do something about the body. Her teeth were clattering and she felt suddenly incredibly cold.   
  
She had murdered Stane. She would go to prison for this, there would be a trial, and what a PR nightmare that would be. This would be in the headlines for weeks. 'Body In the Stark Mansion', or  maybe 'The PA Finally Snaps' or something equally horrifying.   
  
She stared numbly at the distant skyline through the large window. She had never realized how much the house resembled an aquarium. It wasn't really a problem until there was a body in the living room.     
  
“Pepper?”  
  
She looked up. Bruce was crouched down next to her, looking concerned.   
  
“How are you feeling now? You looked lost there,” he said.  
  
“I'm fine.” She raised her hands, showing him the cool, normal skin. “I'm in control.”

“Good, well done. Why don't we get up from the floor then, you would be more comfortable sitting in a chair, don't you think? A drink wouldn't be a bad idea either. C'mon, up you get.”  
  
Pepper took his hand and let him pull her up on her feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist and  steered her back in the living room. Pepper tried not to look at the body as Bruce led him to other end of the coach from where Tony was spread out, a pillow under his head. She couldn't help a glance though, and she noticed that Bruce had covered the body with a designer throw, snatched from the chair. The table was covered in the extinguisher foam and the whole space smelled weird.   
  
Bruce left her to search for the bar, and he came back with three glasses of whiskey. He handed them around before sitting next to Pepper. For a moment they simply drank in silence, until Tony apparently felt recovered enough to open his mouth.   
  
“So.” Tony stared at her over the brim of his whiskey glass. “You got a boyfriend. I feel insulted. Did you tell him about the dance?” He turned to stare at Bruce. “There was a dance, and drinks. Very romantic.”  
  
“I didn't get a drink, you left me stranded on the roof!” Pepper couldn't believe that this was the issue he wanted to discuss right now. There was a body wrapped in a thousand dollar fake fur throw laying on the floor, and Pepper felt the bile rise to her throat. She gulped down the remnants of her drink and she tried hard not to crack the glass with her shaking fingers.   
  
“Yes, like I said. Drinks on the roof, fantastic view, the stars. Romantic.” Tony didn't turn his eyes from Bruce. “And for the record, I don't let just anybody stick their hands inside my body cavities, so you better be at least a boyfriend.”  
  
Bruce smiled softly, leaning back to rest against the coach cushion. “The arc reactor is a brilliant short term solution to a permanent problem. It's for holding back the shrapnel, correct?”

“What?” Tony tried to sit up, but his coordination was still shoddy, and he ended up slumping back against the pillow, cradling the drink protectively against his chest.   
  
“Don't worry, I'm not going to steal it, like I suspect everyone else so far had tried. But I have to point out that the arc reactor doesn't actually solve the real problem of the shrapnel, and on top of that, it will certainly kill you in the long run. But you knew that already. That injury is 'the walking dead', isn't it?”  
  
Pepper stared at them both. “What did you say?”  
  
“I only pointed out that if we want to keep Tony alive and well, the work has only begun,” Bruce said, taking her hand and squeezing her fingers gently. “But that's not the most pressing problem. We should decide what we want to do with the body, the lividity has already started.”  
  
“Pepper, don't you know how to get rid of it? I would think they teach that trick in the Fixer Academy where you got your degree, “ Tony said. “And don't think I didn't notice that no one answered my question about the whole boyfriend thing.”   
  
“We are not in a relationship,” Bruce said calmly. “Not in a romantic sense. Not yet, at least.”   
  
“I'm a personal assistant, not a fixer,” Pepper pointed out, sidestepping the whole relationship discussion. It was too complicated and dangerous topic, and she felt frail enough as it was. And she certainly needed more than one drink for it. They needed to focus on the problem. “Don't you know an actual fixer?”  
  
“Good point,” Tony said. “Jarvis, run a scenario how to get rid of a body.”

“You can't ask Jarvis to do that,” Pepper hissed, like that would prevent Jarvis from hearing her. “Jarvis is innocent! It's like asking a child to cover your tracks. It's wrong.”  
  
Tony waved his hand. “That doesn't make any sense. Jarvis loves to work on a problem, don't you?”  
  
“I'm happy to help, Ms. Potts,” came the reply.   
  
“Tony, no.”  
  
“How about a car accident?” Bruce said, turning the empty glass in his hands. “Explosion would cover the burns, impact would explain the broken neck and we can get rid of his car at the same time.”  
  
“Smart and simple, I like that,” Tony said, pushing up with better results. He managed to sit up and looked halfway healthy. “I'll get suited up, easier to toss a car that way.”  
  
“What? No! You just had a heart attack. I can handle this,” Pepper said, though even the idea that she needed to touch Stane again made her stomach roil. “You can stay here and think up an excuse to the cleaning crew about the fire damage.”  
  
“We pay the cleaning crew enough and they don't even want to know. They'll come up an explanation for us, that's how much I'm going to pay them.”  
  
“Why are you joking about this? Don't you understand what happened here?” Pepper asked, suddenly angry. “I almost burned the house down! You could've died just because I tried to save you, can't you see that?”

“You did save me,” Tony said. “And sure, I've always known you are hot, not that literally though, but who am I to complain? If you expect me to condemn you in some way, then you are absolutely mistaken. Stane tried to kill me, you stopped him, that makes you my very own hero. Would you like a medal? I can cobble together something pretty.”  
  
“I need another drink,” Pepper said weakly. Her head was spinning and she didn't know what to do. Bruce got up without a word and went to fill her glass.   
  
“I have the lock chip in my purse, and it proves everything Stane did. The weapon orders, the suit he was building, the fact that he ordered the hit on your convoy. I could've given it to Agent Coulson, and he would've taken care of it. Arrest Stane. But I didn't do it. I did _that_.” Pepper waved her had toward the covered body. “I'm a murderer, Tony.”    
  
“I may not have all the details here,” Bruce said, handing her the glass. “But despite the evidence, do you honestly think that some like Stane would've let a prison stop him from getting what he wants? Assuming that he would've even ended there in the first place.”  
  
“The boyfriend is right,” Tony said, waving his empty glass like Bruce should've thought to top it up as well.   
  
“I'm not a boyfriend,” Bruce said.   
  
“Give it time,” Tony said. “Now, let's get rid of this body.”

_x - x - x_

 

In the end, they did it quick and simple. Jarvis looked up the geographical maps and incident reports to calculate the optimum spot for a car crash.  Tony helped Bruce to load the body in the trunk of Stane's car, while Pepper went around to the kitchen to fetch some cleaning supplies and rubber gloves, tossing them in the back seat of the small car meant for the house staff to use.   
  
Tony went to suit up, just in case. Pepper tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted that he felt just fine, and it would be easier to push the car in the canyon this way. Bruce gave her a look, but Pepper shook her head minutely. Tony didn't need to know how strong she was, not right now. It could wait. Bruce tipped his shoulder in a small shrug, leaving the choice to her.  
  
Bruce drove Stane's car and Pepper followed him. They made it in good time, reaching the designated spot without any problems. When Bruce pulled over, Pepper followed in suit. She got out of the car, taking the cleaning supplies with her. She wiped the driver's seat and the interior, while Bruce managed the body, dragging it out of the trunk. She went to help, and somehow it felt easier to touch the body while wearing the gloves. She still tried resolutely not to look, turning to look at the sky, trusting Bruce to guide her.   
  
“Are you all right?” he asked, after they had gotten the body in the driver's seat in correct position.   
  
“Sure. You know, you don't have to be part of this, you've done enough for the night,” Pepper said quietly, hands pushed in the pockets of the oversized cardigan she had found in the kitchen. She couldn't stop shivering.   
  
“I won't leave, until I'm sure you are fine,” Bruce said, his arms crossed as he peered in the night sky. “I promised to help you when we broke out from that research facility, and I'm going to keep my word.”

“You know it goes both ways, don't you? I'll help you, if you ever need me. Same goes for Tony, I imagine.”  
  
“You should tell Tony what happened with Killian. He'll understand.”  
  
“I know. I will. But not tonight,” Pepper said. “I might have to paralyze him again to keep him quiet long enough to tell him the whole story.”  
  
Bruce laughed. “I thought you were exaggerating when you told me about him. He's interesting though, I can see why you like him. I could easily see liking him as well.”   
  
“No relationship talks when staging a car accident to cover a crime,” Pepper muttered. Not that the notion of having them both wasn't alluring, but she needed a long nap, some food, maybe a spa day to be able to think it through.   
  
“Hm? Of course, if you insist,” Bruce said. “I only thought to offer, now that we have had drinks and watched the stars all together. How did Tony put it? It's very romantic.”    
  
Pepper tried to stifle her laughter. Bruce smiled and took the cleaning cloth from her hand and closed the car door, wiping the fingerprints off the handle. He went around to do the same with the trunk, and then they walked to Pepper's car to wait. Bruce wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. It felt warm and safe, and Pepper was grateful for the touch, his presence calming her frayed nerves.

There was a bright arch of light when Tony arrived, stopping for a moment to hover overhead and then descending on the road. He looked much more in control than what Pepper had seen before this.   
  
“Are you ready kids?” he asked, the electronics turning his voice almost alien.   
  
“Do your magic, Mr. Stark,” Bruce said.  
  
Tony looked slowly around the area, so that Jarvis could calculate the correct trajectory. It looked so silly that Pepper started to laugh again, unable to stop. Maybe she had gone insane at some point this ridiculous, terrifying night. Bruce looked at her, simply checking, not telling her to stop or trying to comfort her beyond the gentle squeeze against her waist.   
  
“I'm fine, I got it,” Pepper finally said, forcing herself to take a deep breath and calm down. "I'm in control."   
  
“I know you are,” Bruce said quietly. "And it will stay that way."  
  
The car exploded with a bright orange flame, the heat surging up to the sky. Tony flew back to them, landing with a thud and lifting his visor.   
  
“So. That was the show. Now, who's hungry?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> All I know about breaking necks and staging car crashes come from procedural criminal shows such as CSI & Bones - so everything is wildly fictional.


End file.
